We seem to again be at a time in our society where people are worried about quality and are looking at ways of ensuring that it happens. Child care regulations, the Early Years Learning Framework, National Curriculum, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority are all impacting on education. We are sure it is happening in other professions and workplaces too.

At the bottom of 'quality', however, there are people. Total Quality Management requires the involvement of all employees. The five Ss (sort, store, shine, standardise and sustain) require people to eliminate materials that do not belong, create logical storage, clean, make the work area the same so that procedures and abnormalities are obvious and to internalise rules and make them habits. In Business Process Re-engineering we need to identify capabilities which can and should influence the process design, including staff skills. Quality Control Circles require workers to take responsibility for self-correcting errors. Total Production Maintenance requires people to work as a team. At the root of it all, quality is about people. People work with and in relationships - and we can't legislate for good relationships!

Some years ago, Tim Muirhead showed us a 'circle of we' and pointed out that when relationships between clients (children, parents, customers) and staff are strong, energy is generated that reaches into the community and influences government. When relationships fall down, governments set up legislation, communities seek regulations and clients demand accountability. Whatever 'quality' processes we are living through actually depend on us.

Quality processes, when they are used by people doing the work can be fantastic tools for reflecting on the work being done and learning. Ensuring quality then becomes a framework for being, belonging and becoming rather than an imposition that causes stress and angst. Perhaps the New Year gives us an opportunity to think about how we can restore the balance so that quality is generated from us rather than imposed by others – and that we put the quest for good relationships at the heart of quality in any setting!